Brian Hill’s social conscience was formed early, while he grew up in a large California family devoted to serving others. Hill’s father, a community college psychology instructor, also taught classes to inmates in Folsom State Prison, and he used that experience to foster empathy among young Brian and his five siblings. Decades later, Brian Hill has combined that empathetic urge with an entrepreneurial spirit to build Edovo, a thriving educational software company designed to give incarcerated men and women a leg up on a better future. In just a few years, Chicago-based Edovo has grown into an 85-employee firm that makes more than 25,000 tablet computers available in correctional facilities.
Entrepreneur Helen Adeosun is a scholar and a striver, but she’s spent plenty of time in the trenches. Along with degrees from Notre Dame and Harvard, Adeosun boasts a wealth of work experience—as a babysitter, a nanny, a teacher, a social worker, and a home-health aide. All of that learning served her well as the co-founder and CEO of CareAcademy, a Massachusetts-based firm that produces instructional modules that home caregivers use on mobile phones or tablet computers. Adeosun, the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, launched CareAcademy in 2013. It now has more than 200 home-health companies as clients.
The Gonzalez brothers, (from left) Arnoldo, Homero, and Esteban, all have benefited from the student-centered approach adopted by Georgia Gwinnett College near Atlanta. The brothers are all GGC graduates, despite the barriers they faced as young immigrants from Mexico. The college took an intensely personal approach to ensure their success – standard operating procedure at Georgia Gwinnett.
Elkhart County, Indiana, has been in the economic spotlight before – a light that was especially harsh during the Great Recession, when unemployment spiked at 20 percent. Things are much better these days, and a local talent-development coalition is committed to maintaining that momentum. The coalition is decidedly cross-cultural, involving local industry, a growing Latino population and a progressive university affiliated with the Mennonite Church.
There’s a new spirit of unity among the colleges and universities that serve students in Mobile, Alabama. Where they used to compete to enroll these students, these once-siloed institutions are now collaborating to help them find clear pathways to success. The collaboration – fostered by Chandra Scott of the Mobile Area Education Foundation – is part of what sets Mobile apart as a Talent Hub.
These days, Morgan State University junior Deja Jones is focusing on her course work, but that hasn’t always been the case. In fact, money was so tight during her sophomore year that Jones was “literally fainting” because she couldn’t afford regular meals. That’s when Morgan State’s wraparound support system kicked in.
Amarillo College President Russell Lowery-Hart has made it his mission – and that of his college – to help low-income students succeed. The key ingredient in his formula? Love. “When you love the students you have rather than the students you wish you had, and when you build your college around their needs, you can actually ensure that they complete what they’ve started,” he says.
At Wegmans, an upscale grocery chain in upstate New York, shoppers are used to being pampered. What customers may not realize is that Wegmans sees its workers as special, too – particularly those who come up through its Work-Scholarship Connection program. The program – now more than a decade old – fosters academic achievement and promotes career success among students in underfunded urban schools.
Cigna Corp., the global health benefits firm, is justifiably proud of its tuition-reimbursement program. The program is markedly generous to Cigna workers, providing an annual tuition subsidy of as much as $10,000 to undergraduates and $12,000 to graduate students. But the program aids the company, too – and Cigna has the numbers to prove it. Research shows that it generates a handsome financial return on investment while also boosting employee loyalty.
National drugstore chain CVS Health gives low-income workers a leg up on the career ladder – and fills a pressing need – through an innovative apprenticeship program. The program, now in its 14th year, prepares low-income job seekers for careers as pharmacy technicians. Workers learn while they earn, and their initial jobs often lead to management positions in the company’s nearly 10,000 retail stores. In 2017, CVS employed 4,600 apprenticeship-trained pharmacy techs and managers in 12 states.